Origins
by Quirnheim
Summary: How the Mogu came to be.
1. Chapter 1

_**Activation sequence initiated. **_

_**Primary function subroutines declared. 'Guard' module online. **_

**With those words, the stone sentinel's eyes shot open and it sprung to 'life'. **

** The Vale of Eternal Blossoms; a region of verdant trees and a landscape of beauty. It was here that the Titans had decided to begin to shape life in this region of the new world they named Kalimdor. It was here where, with the help of their unknowable magics, they created the Pools of Power, so named due to it's lifegiving – and life-altering powers. The water flowed deep beneath this land, spreading out through the world's widest regions. All life deserved a chance to evolve and flourish, the Makers had decreed. **

** It was here where the Makers tinkered and experimented; creating the first forms of life to walk Kalimdor's southern lands. For this reason, large facilities were needed to store the repositories needed to complete these functions. **

** But the Vale was not always this pristine. **

** When the Makers had arrived upon the young, primordial and chaotic world, they had found the Old Gods, creatures that defied space and time altogether in their eldrich ways. These beings resented the Makers for their arrival upon the world they claimed as their own, and a great, long and bloody war had broken out between the forces of the Makers and of the Old Ones. **

** The southern regions of Kalimdor were no exception. The Makers discovered the Seven Headed one, Y'shaarj, so it called itself -a vast, leviathan beast with maws that could devour the suns of the universe whole if it desired – defending its territory with its endless legions of insectoid servants. These 'mantid', as they were referred to by their master, fought with the Makers day in and day out – and despite their efforts, the Makers could gain no ground against the insects and their lord. To remedy this, construction was begun on two great constructs – or 'Watchers', as they were dubbed. **

** These Watchers, Ra and Norushen, were great creations of the Makers; stone servants with the power to destroy and smite those who fell against them. Ra in particular was gifted with the powers of Storm by The Thunderer, Golganneth, who forged them in the tranquility of the Vale. **

** Ra and Norushen battled the mantid for many an age – and while they were able to force them back somewhat, they could not defeat them truly. It was Ra who suggested to The Thunderer that he forge a legion of stone – obedient and steadfast – for him to lead into battle against the Old Gods' servants. It was from this decree that the mogu were first created – in the image of Norushen, Ra's fellow Watcher, who agreed to give them his likeness. **

** With the endless legions of stone on their side, the war turned in the Makers' favor. Eventually, Ra and his mogu legions fought against the Seven Headed One and struck him down – which was when the Makers realized that striking down an Old God was not a good thing to do – as the beast's life essence seeped into the land – and despite the seeming deathblow, the heart of Y'shaarj still continued to beat. **

** Golganneth decreed that the heart be locked away in the Vale and kept under heavy guard by Norushen – supplemented by the legions of stone themselves. And for eons, that had been done. **


	2. Chapter 2

** Construct One-K stepped out from its alcove upon receiving its activation signal. Its duties had not changed – it would patrol the same route it always had. The stone watcher grasped its weapon – a long, bronze pike – in its grasp and began to march down the corridor of the storage facility it inhabited. Machines and various circuitry – left by the Makers themselves – beeped and whistled, and the hum of energy made the floor shudder beneath its feet. **

** But, it paid no attention to this. Its duty was to protect the Vale for the Makers. And it would do just that. **

** Stepping outside, Construct One-K was greeted by the shining sun of the mid-day, as large trees bloomed in the distance off from the balcony it stood on. Other constructs milled about it; some marching in formation, others standing perfectly still, heads turning this way and that, while others carried large, ordinate boxes from one room to the next. **

** All was normal. **

** Turning, the construct trudged along the balcony and stepped down a small flight of stairs – again, following it's patrol route. This was what it was built for – this was its function. Ever since the end of the war with the insectoid creatures, the stone legions had been ordered by their Master, Ra, to keep the Vale in pristine condition. The Makers had long since departed – and Ra had long since ceased communication – but Construct One-K did not care. Its orders were ingrained into its form, it's stone body having been augmented by technology from the Makers to receive and output commands. **

** Reaching the bottom of the staircase, Construct One-K began to march down the path into the Vale proper – some constructs were assigned to patrol the vicinity of the various facilities, while others simply stood vigil in the buildings themselves. The humming and various assorted chatter indicated that the small life forms that had taken root in the Vale were aware of its presence, but once again, the construct paid no attention to them. Its orders in dealing with native life was to ignore it unless it was deemed a threat to the Makers or to the constructs as a whole. **

** Approaching the end of its route, Construct One-K took notice of a few pairs of large eyes studying it from the path ahead. In front of it, the construct beheld several aquatic creatures – with large eyes that studied it curiously. The creatures were small and held scales indicative of fish or crustaceans but otherwise appeared humanoid – they were bipedal and had arms. Approaching them, the construct stopped barely a foot from them. **

** "Native life is advised to relocate from patrol path for its own safety." it barked in its stony, deep and bland voice. The creatures leaped back, startled a moment as they chattered about in some primitive language, and then bounded away into the brush. This warning was often sufficient enough to deter native fauna from interfering in the construct's patrol path – it was one of the standard announcements programmed into each construct. **

** As Construct One-K continued its heavy-footed march through the various roadways connecting the various facilities of the Makers, it continuously updated its location, status and other relevant information to the SK-1 MasterComputer – a super-advanced AI that connected all of the constructs to it's mainframe, allowing the stone legions to send and receive instructions, data and other information from other constructs. **

_** "Patrol route Kappa Prime completed. Returning to designated holding area – no anomalies detected within vicinity." **_

_** "Audio detection software installed at all data storage devices present in Complex Beta-11 Echo. No anomalies or errors encountered." **_

** The voices went on and on, droning in their robotic tone about various updates being relayed by the SK network to all mogu connected. Individuality was not a subroutine or command active in any construct, but it was through the SK network that a semblance of collective was formed. **

** Construct One-K continued its march through the Vale – its orders were always at the fore-front of its programming. **


	3. Chapter 3

"_**Kappa construct pods one through fourteen, enable." **_

**With that, Construct One-K's eyes shot open instantly. It stepped down from its alcove and stood docile – with other members of it's pod, well over three dozen, waiting for further instructions from the SK network: **

** "_Anomaly detected at Facility Kappa-Prime-Seven. Biological life form readings found. Kappa construct pods one through fourteen are to engage module 'Sentry', find and neutralize life form readings."_**

**As one, the mogu of Pod Seven turned and marched for their halberds. Acquiring them from their racks, they marched in unison out of their chamber and down the hall to the Main Podway – the connection point for all Titan facilities in the Vale. The room was spherical with massive hatches in the floor, where constructs would stand, one by one, and be shot down through propellant tubes to their ordered locations. **

**Lining up before one such hatch, Pod Seven was soon joined by all thirteen remaining Pods, the hundreds of stone soldiers awaiting the opening of the hatch-ways. Within seconds, all hatch-ways opened and the first soldiers stepped onto them, barely able to get into position before they disappeared in a blur of color. **

** Eventually, Construct One-K stepped up to the hatch-way and disappeared through the propellant tube. **

** Within seconds, the construct had arrived at it's destination – Facility Kappa-Prime-Seven, which was designated as an adjutant bio-research area for the Makers to conduct life-shaping experiments. The room was illuminated just as it always was, and the stone legions filed back into their lines as they had been previous, as the remaining soldiers appeared and joined their respective pods. The pod system was first proposed and tested by Watcher Ra, who organized the mogu into sections in order to make various duties more efficiently run – and the technique appeared to work. Pods were now organized into various duties – Pod Kappa, where Construct One-K was assigned, was used for security and infantry purposes, while other Pods such as Pod Omega acted as general repair and integrity units. **

** As the soldiers of Pod Kappa marched down the hallway, they were sent a series of coordinates via the SK network – directing them to a section of the east wing of the facility. There was no talk, no chatter, no feelings among the Pod – they were soldiers, without fear, regret, emotion – their duty was to obey. **

** Soon enough, the Pod reached the door leading into the target coordinates. Pausing, the Pod awaited the SK network's update: **

_** "Pod Seven and Nine will enter target area to find and neutralize target. Remaining Pods will act as security for section where target resides."**_

** As one, Pods Seven and Nine marched through the door, which opened into a massive hydroponics bay; a domed room filled with various plant life – massive, breathing trees, color shifting flowers, and the like. Moving swiftly through the rows of research, the Pods paused at the 'target' location and spread out into a circular formation – Pod Seven taking the inner 'ring', while Pod Nine held the outer 'ring'. **

** In front of them was a being unlike anything seen before. The halberd of a stone soldier lay at its side, but the begin appeared to be breathing. Upon its knees, it gasped for breath, laboriously trying to come to terms with the air it now inhaled. Its skin was blue and shuddered violently as it weakly looked up, finding the two Pods totally surrounding it. The face appeared to be a mockery of the Mogu's own stone face – but something was not right. **

_** "Anomaly located. Subject appears as a biological imitation of construct units. Requesting instructions." **_

_** "Pod Seven, initiate bio-scan of target. Upload instructions to network promptly." **_

_** "Acknowledged." **_

** Construct One-K stepped forward, pausing in front of the gasping creature. Peering down at it, it activated the bio-scan function subroutine in its programming and reached down, grasping the creature by the arm. The creature continued to gasp and wheeze as it shuddered – the emotions were almost flowing off the target as it shook in fear. **

_** "Bio-scan complete. Target appears to be standard humanoid configuration – possession of lungs, heart, digestive tract, brain, muscle and bone. Target also displays trace amounts of stone in the upper respiratory tract – bio-scan confirms match between stone in target's respiratory tract and stone material used in creation of constructs." **_

_** "Acknolwedged, Pod Seven. Biological anomaly unknown to all relevant databases this network has scanned. Hypothesis extrapolates a fifty-seven point five six repeating chance of potential infectious disease upon target. Termination Order Eta initiated. Preserve target carcass and transport to Facility Gamma-Three for autopsy." **_

** With that, Construct One-K grasped the creature's arm harder and pulled it to its feet, the creature now flailing in an apparent attempt to escape. Grasping its halberd with its free hand, it proceeded to plunge the weapon into the target's chest. A reddish fluid exploded everywhere around the constructs as the target gurgled, its life readings rapidly fading. The fluid continued to pour onto the floor even as the target's life readings expired. **

_** "Termination Order Eta executed. Transporting corpse to Facility Gamma-Three." **_

** With that, two other Constructs seized the corpse and the Pods proceeded to drag the body back through the hydroponics bay, the blood of the first living mogu trailing behind them. **


End file.
